As for the NBA Finals, the league has to be disappointed with a series featuring LeBron James, who was supposed to be the saving force of the playoffs.  But it appears fans consider the match between San Antonio and Cleveland a foregone conclusion.  Fact is, the Eastern Conference champions are probably only slightly better than the Florida Gators, this year’s NCAA champions. 

And everyone knows American sports fans only care about star power when a star is winning.  If, say, the Cavs had won game 1, the ratings for game 2 would likely have told a different story.  After all, we don’t watch Tiger Woods on Sundays when he’s not in the hunt, but if he starts the day at the top – or within a reasonable distance of it – the ratings skyrocket.  The Cavs were so outclassed in game 1, and nearly set a record deficit to open the first half of game 2, that most basketball fans began thinking about the dreaded weeks to come.  June is, to many sports fans, the Purgatory of the sports world.  Baseball is inconsequential at this point, football hasn’t entered training camp, and the NBA is finished.  What’s left?

The San Antonio Spurs, though one of the most dominant playoff teams in years, are also a team without a significant star.  Yes, Tim Duncan is perhaps the best power forward in league history, but no one will deny he has the personality of an amoeba.  His personal story is eclipsed by exactly 100% of the kids in the National Spelling Bee competition.

And this brings us to The Sopranos, which is getting decidedly mixed reviews today.  Personally, I’m undecided.  I thought the final scene was a captivating glimpse into the world of Tony Soprano.  The tension you felt? Soprano lives with that every minute of every day.  It was a fitting conclusion in some ways.  Tony will go on, and we won’t be there to live out his adventures anymore, but we don’t need to be either.  We’ve been doing it for years.  We know how the Soprano family lives.  Time to move on.

At least that’s my interpretation. 

Some have voiced outrage over the inconclusive finale.  The show seemed to have reached for a cliché-less conclusion, but does that make it less cliché?  Or was it a case of simply trying too hard?  Today the conspiracy theorists abound, and more than one person feels the show concluded in order to set up a future movie project.  After all, a dead Tony Soprano doesn’t exactly leave many box office options for, say, 5 years from now.

But that’s a different discussion for a different time.  The bottom line: The Sopranos was the most important thing on American television last night.  Go figure.

Scott Goldberg